Chinese food and surgery tapes
by emma4713
Summary: Oneshot. After Denny dies, the interns don't know how to take care of Izzie or how things will ever be normal again


She sat in the corner. Naked. Shivering even after the scalding shower. Curled in a fetal position in the corner of the shower she looked all of ten. Her soaking blonde hair hung over her shoulders, obscuring her face and dripping into her lap. She couldn't be bothered to dry off. She couldn't be bothered to move.

He observed her from the doorway. She didn't care, took no notice.

"Come on and dry off, hon," he said soothingly. "We'll get you into a warm bed. You haven't slept in thirty-six hours."

She didn't reply, didn't show any indication that she had even heard.

"Izz," he said quietly.

She curled herself tighter, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face.

He moved quickly to her side, grabbing a towel of the hook as he passed.

"Izzie, come on," he whispered.

He held the towel out for her and waited patiently. She looked up at him, eyes welled with tears and crawled into the towel.

Alex dried her gently and wrapped the towel around her before picking her up and carrying her to her bedroom.

Meredith and George were waiting outside the bathroom, looking anxious, but he just shook his head and passed them. Izzie didn't even open her eyes.

He helped her pull on pajama pants and a tank top and laid her in bed. She rolled onto her side and didn't look at him.

He kicked of his shoes and climbed in bed next to her, pulling the blankets up around them. He pulled her close and kissed her head.

She stayed stiff in his arms for a while, still shaking. Eventually he felt her relax and knew she had fallen asleep. He kissed her head once more and snuggled her closer.

"She's still sleeping," Alex said.

He had woken up a few hours later and crept out of the bed. Now he joined Meredith, George and Cristina in the living room.

"Thank God," Meredith sighed.

"She's going to be okay," George said. "I mean, she is, right? She has to be. And she's not actually quitting. I mean, that was spur of the moment. She was emotional."

"Bambi, settle down," Cristina ran a hand through her hair.

"Her fiancé died. Give her some time," Meredith said.

"Why did she agree to marry him? How did she fall in love with him? She's never even seen him outside the hospital," Cristina said.

"We went over this," Meredith replied. "You can't help who you love."

"But she's going to get over it, right?" George asked.

"George, seriously, you ask if she's going to be okay one more time, and I'm going to kill you," Alex sighed.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," Meredith yelled, not bothering to see who it was.

"How is she?" Burke asked as he entered, having been discharged from the hospital the previous day.

"She's sleeping."

Cristina stood and kissed Burke hello. They sat together on the couch. This was wearing on Cristina more than any 48-hour shift, more than any 12-hour surgery holding a tumour, and she was happy to have Burke to hold on to.

All of the interns had been camping out at Meredith's for the past two days, sleeping two at a time for as long as they could which usually ended up being no more than three hours. The chief had given them time off to take care of Izzie, but nothing seemed to be helping.

"Bailey said she was coming by later," Burke said.

No one bothered to respond. They were all worried and exhausted.

"Has anyone called her family?" Burke asked.

"We've never met them, never heard stories about them, have no idea where they live. We have no idea how to contact them," Meredith replied.

They fell silent. Izzie was taking Denny's death harder than any of them expected, and none of them knew how to help her.

There was movement upstairs. All of the interns stood up at once.

"I got her," Alex said. "It's the least I could do."

He headed back upstairs. Everyone else collapsed back onto their couches and chairs and looked at each other silently.

"Izzie?" Alex knocked. "I'm coming in, hon."

She was in the window, in the same fetal position she had been in in the shower. He approached her cautiously.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"I woke up and didn't remember. There was a moment there where I forgot," she replied. "I thought I was just getting up on any normal day. Then I remembered."

She sobbed quietly. Alex kissed her head.

"I love you," he whispered. "We all love you. We want to help."

"How are you supposed to help? Are you going to be able to bring him back? Are you going to be able to make things okay?!" she yelled.

"Izz," he sighed.

"I have to figure out what I'm going to do with my life," she said to the window. "Surgery's no longer an option and I need to pay rent."

Alex bowed his head.

"Come downstairs," he suggested. "Burke's here, and Bailey's going to show up later. We could watch Meredith's mom's surgery tapes or bake something or, you know, something."

She didn't respond.

Finally she turned to him, held her arms wide. She wrapped her hands around his neck and he lifted her up.

"Downstairs?"

She nodded.

"You sure?"

She nodded once more.

He carried her to the door.

"Wait."

He stopped and looked at her, afraid she had lost her nerve.

"Put me down," she instructed. "I can walk."

She led the way downstairs. Everyone in the living room stood as she came down the staircase, Alex close behind.

"You want to watch the one where your mom peels the guy's face off?" Izzie asked.

"I'll order some Chinese," George smiled.

Izzie threw herself on the couch next to Cristina and Burke and pulled Alex next to her, curling into him. Meredith set up the tape and George ordered the food.

As they shared their white take-out boxes and watched the videos and laughed, everyone knew it would be all right again.


End file.
